


Of the stars and the moons

by void_kogane



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Nightmares, both just in their feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:54:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23182858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/void_kogane/pseuds/void_kogane
Summary: Beside him, Lance blew out a whistle, whispering a soft ‘holy shit’, and Keith could only nod at that, transfixed in the stars and the moons, wishing to just stay in this moment forever and time to just stop, let him be here with Lance because that’s all he needed for the rest of his life.He looked up at him then, and he swore he could see all the fucking stars dancing in his eyes, the smile Lance had making Keith melt and surely it was weird to be just staring at him, but at that moment he couldn’t dare look away.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	Of the stars and the moons

Keith remained grateful for one thing staying the same from Earth to Space; the soft glow of the stars and moon. In Space’s case, that actually meant moons, plural, but the same feeling remained- a calming reassurance against the heavy weight set on his heart.

It’s always been there, that weight, always a reminder of his loneliness, abandonment, the knowledge that love and companionship will always be foreign to him. 

He has a team now, a good one, but he knows he’s still the outcast of them, no matter how hard everyone makes it seem like he isn’t.

He wished it didn’t have to be like that, wished he let people care for him, get to know him. Wished he wasn’t forced to take care of himself for his whole life, because maybe, if things were different, he would be able to let himself love and be loved.

He lets himself have that with Shiro, mostly. It was easy for him to admire the man, he was respectable and kind, the first role model Keith ever had. It was harder for Keith to accept Shiro cared for him too, actually wanted to be his friend in return. No one knows him as well as Shiro, but he still feels a disconnect with team-leader Shiro, opposed to just his leader Shiro.

He can see the sadness in Shiro’s eyes when Keith pushes the team away; he can tell he wishes he could help him trust more, let himself be more vulnerable so the team could see him as Shiro sees him. Another thing Keith wishes. To make Shiro proud. 

Keith sits at a windowsill in the end of one of the hallways, where his head rests on the large window there, his eyes closing with the stars still dancing on his eyelids. 

The book in his lap is the only personal item he took from Earth, unbeknownst to his teammates. It also holds its own weight to it as well, makes him feel empty but still has his heart racing through each sentence. It makes him crave for the intimacy it describes, but has him wishing he never has to feel the heartbreak that it eventually leads to. 

It doesn’t take long for Keith to fall asleep there, thoughts going from busy to silent, his only thoughts focusing on the sound and feeling of his heart beating, reminding him that he’s alive and real, existing alongside the humans, the aliens, and the stars and the moons.

  
  
  
  


Lance wakes up as he usually does lately, heart beating rapidly, and nerves running through him anxiously. He’s usually the heaviest sleeper of his team, always the first one to bed and the last one awake. But. 

Ever since his dreams switched from peaceful to gruesome, he struggled to sleep longer than a few hours, his own screams waking him at least three times a week. 

It’s gotten worse, the nightmares. He knew every time he went to bed for the night, one of three options would occur; 

  1. He wouldn’t have any dreams, which was always preferable,
  2. His dreams would consist of him dying, memories of his family flashing in his mind as he could feel his last breath leave his body, or
  3. Watching either his family or his team being killed in front of him. Sometimes it would be both, him watching helplessly as both his friend and family scream for him to do something, anything, until the galra with their guns aimed at their heads pulled the trigger. 



Memories of his family used to make him feel happy, hopeful he had something to go home to. Now, memories fade, reminding him that the longer he’s in space, the less he’ll remember the sound of his mom’s laugh, or the way his brothers voice sounded. The memories in his dreams seemed to only serve as torture to him, the way he loves so hard being used to fuck with him. 

He doesn’t know why his mind is doing this to him, it’s hard enough being so far from them, not knowing if he’ll ever see them again. Fuck his mind. Fuck the dreams.   
  


He can’t stand just laying in his bed, waiting until everyone else wakes. He gets up, does his morning routine and decides he needs to get out of his room, wander around the castle until the heavy feeling carried in his heart settles down to a point where it's bearable. 

The hallways dark, the quiet hum that echoes around the castle settling him down and calms his nerves just a bit. He walks towards the end of the hallway where the big window is, hoping laying against the glass and watching the transitions from moon replacing to sun up close. 

Lance gets closer, noticing someone had already taken the space he wanted. He could hear soft snores, and saw the messy mop of hair distinguishable as ever: Keith. 

Lance went back and forth in his head whether or not to disturb the other, but ultimately decided that maybe a distraction, or having someone to help his loneliness, could make his head stop.

  
  
  


A gentle hand on Keith’s shoulder caused him to startle awake, but thankfully he was able to catch himself before he fell off the windowsill. The book, however, fell instead, but instead of landing on the floor below him it was caught swiftly by someone in front of him. 

Keith rubs his eyes, before deciding to look up, realizing it was Lance, face lit by the brightness of the stars shining in from the window. He looked off, bags under his eyes and a frown etched on his face, looking so unlike himself it concerned Keith. 

Lance held the book in his hands, bringing it closer to his face as he read the title. 

“Hey, I’ve heard of this book, is it good? How’d you find it here anyways?” 

Lance's voice was deeper than usual, probably due to having just woken up. He also sounded gentle, soft, something almost intimate, causing a warmth to fill Keith’s chest. 

Usually, this is when he’d immediately retract, hide or lash out when things were about to get too personal and someone would try to push him to be vulnerable and open up. 

He didn’t know how to be vulnerable, he knew how to be alone and have his own company being the only one that stuck around.  


There was something about the loneliness in this point of night which made Keith want nothing else but to hear more of that voice, get him closer, just hold him and no one would know and there wouldn’t be any fights between them because the stars are out and time stops when no ones awake, except for him and Lance and that’s the only thing that would matter until the sun rises. 

Right then, Keith wasn’t scared of being too vulnerable. In fact, he desired it, he wants to let Lance in, would tell him anything he wanted to know, let him do anything he wanted to him. 

Keith smiled at him.

“I brought it with me from Earth. I’ve read it so much I’ve lost count, and I was going to read it again, but I guess I got too distracted in my thoughts and ended up dozing off..”

He was rambling, something he’d only ever done with Shiro, but something about Lance’s expression on his face made him want to change it back to regular Lance, the one without a frown and the one who could never seem to stop rambling. 

Lance handed him the book back, a small smile returning Keith’s. 

“What got you distracted?”  


Lance sat on the windowsill beside him, Keith bringing his legs up to his chest and hugging them to give Lance more room. 

“I dunno. I just think sometimes that.. I just wish it was easier to be more carefree, I guess. Sometimes I envy the friendships everyone else has on the team, but I’m still too scared to reach out.” 

“We are your friends though, Keith. You’re as much part of the team as anyone else. You don’t have to be scared with us, promise.”

Keith looked into Lance’s eyes, and the sincerity in them drew him in, burned something in his chest that desired Lance, wanting to just reach out and touch, and see the reaction he could pull from him.

His silence was taken as though he didn’t have anything left to say, when in actuality there was just too much he wanted to tell Lance that he didn’t know where to start. 

“How about we go for a walk?” Lance asked, then paused. “Unless you’re tired..?”

Keith smiled at him, genuine and full, then stood. “Let’s go.”

  
  
  


It was awkward walking together, but not unwelcome. They walked along the halls, up to the training deck, then to the lion hanger. They didn’t really talk much, and at first it seemed awkward, but soon the silence grew to a calming intimacy they never have shared together before, not needing to speak but enjoying just the presence of the other to fix the loneliness they both felt that night. 

Keith suggested going into Red, to fly and see the stars surrounding them. Maybe it was just as an excuse to have Lance with him even farther away from others, have him with him alone just for the night. He’d be okay with that. To be himself with Lance, and for Lance to be himself with Keith, just for that night and that would be enough. 

Keith took the pilots seat and Lance stood beside him, resting his hand on top of Keith’s seat. Once they left the hanger, the tranquility and beauty of space engulfed him. It was overwhelming. 

Beside him, Lance blew out a whistle, whispering a soft ‘holy shit’, and Keith could only nod at that, transfixed in the stars and the moons, wishing to just stay in this moment forever and time to just stop, let him be here with Lance because that’s all he needed for the rest of his life.

He looked up at him then, and he swore he could see all the fucking stars dancing in his eyes. The smile Lance had made Keith fucking melt and surely it was weird to just be staring at him, but at that moment he couldn’t dare look away. 

Lance met his eyes, and Keith could see the confusion on his face. Lance looked away, but he didn’t seem bothered by Keith’s staring, instead he moved his hand off the seat to ruffle at Keith’s hair for a moment, before returning it to its previous place.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Space?” 

Keith looked back at the stars, sighing contently. 

“Yeah.” 

“What’re you thinking about, Keith?” 

The question took him by surprise, and his thoughts struggled to find something to say that could deflect what he was actually thinking.

But, he reminded himself that’s not what he wanted for tonight. He would tell Lance anything he wanted to know, give Lance anything he would want. 

“Do you wanna know why that book is the only thing I brought from Earth?” 

“I do.”

“I want something like that. What they have.. I didn’t know people could share that kind of intimacy, or love. I still don’t know, really. I’ve never read something that could make me feel that way, I guess. Could make me crave something that I don’t even think I’d be able to handle.”

“What makes you think you couldn’t handle it?”

“I don’t know what it’s like to have someone care for me. I just.. I don’t know if I could let myself be loved like that.” 

“What if it was me? Would you let me?” 

“What are you saying?”

“Put Red in autopilot.” 

Keith did as he was told, his nerves on fire. Lance was quiet, and Keith didn’t have it in him to speak first.

Lance moved from standing beside him to kneeling in front of him, eyes looking up into Keith’s with an intensity he never knew Lance had in him.

It made his heart beat wildly in his chest, his thoughts coming to a halt as he waited to see what Lance would do next. 

It was terrifying, but he found himself loving it. He’d do anything with Lance, give himself over and see what Lance would do with him. It excited him. 

“Keith, is it better to speak or to die?”

“So you have read it!” 

Lance laughed.  


“I have. So..?”

“To speak, of course.”

“Keith. You have no idea how you make me feel.” 

“Then tell me how.”

“Could I show you instead?” 

Keith nodded, insecurity and fear rising up in the pit of his stomach. The air around them was thick with nerves and desire, the two of them shaky, hearts beating loud in their ears. 

Lance placed one hand on Keith’s knee, the other reaching up to cup his cheek. His eyes made Keith’s skin catch on fucking fire, but Keith didn’t look away, enjoying the heat of it all. 

Lance lifted his head up to brush his lips against Keith’s, not close enough to classify as a kiss, but close enough to feel the breath of the other against his own. 

Lance started to pull away, slowly, but Keith wouldn’t dare have this stop, so he brought one hand to Lance’s jaw, leading Lance up until he was standing. 

Keith stood at the same time, placing his hands onto Lance’s shoulders, closing his eyes and kissing him slowly, sliding his tongue into Lance’s mouth and enjoying the noises that it elicited from Lance. Lance’s hands moved everywhere, sliding up Keith’s body, touching under his shirt and feeling up at the skin that got goosebumps at his touch. 

Keith disconnected their kiss, bringing his thumb to brush against Lance’s lips. Their eyes opened, and Keith smiled, shy and vulnerable, but safe. He felt safe and wanted with Lance. He was scared, yes, but not scared enough to hide. Instead, he wanted more of Lance, wanted him always just like this, leaning in his touch and looking at him with eyes of desire and warmth. 

In this moment he didn’t feel as alone as he always did, didn’t have that weight on his chest that told him he was destined to be lonely in life. Lance made him feel like, maybe, he was allowed to be cared for, and that was okay. 

Lance broke the silence first.

“I think I’m falling in love with you. I think I have been for a while, but I didn’t let myself figure out how I’ve been feeling for so long. Will you let me? Love you. Have you. All of you. Let me love you.” 

“I’ll give you everything as long as you'll give me the same. I am in love with you, and I’ve been too scared to let myself love you for too long.”

Lance smiled at him, fond, as if he shared the same glow of the stars and the moons. 

  
  
  
  


  
  
  



End file.
